Three men face year in jail after posing as cops to cut in line for GTA V

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If you happened to be out around midnight on Monday evening/Tuesday morning you may have noticed long lines of people outside game retailers. It was of course GTA V launch day, and while many gamers went home happy with the game in hand, one got stabbed, and now three more are going to be prosecuted due to their initially successful attempt to cut the lines completely.

Frank Santanastaso, Matthew Kirsheh, and Kirolos Abdel Sayed came up with what they thought was a brilliant plan to purchase GTA V as early as possible. They dressed up as cops and turned up at the Staten Island Mall in an exact replica unmarked police vehicle they had apparently acquired at a police auction. It was even outfitted with flashing lights and a siren for good measure.

The trio proceeded to bypass the long line of gamers that had formed outside the mall’s GameStop outlet and spoke with the store’s manager. Flashing badges and proclaiming they were NYPD, the manager agreed to let them purchase copies of the game and saw them on their way. Until that point the ruse had worked, but they didn’t count on a real copy being in the area.

As the trio pulled away happy in their unmarked car, they passed a real officer in an unmarked car who got suspicious and followed them. He eventually pulled them over outside Kirsheh’s house and the true story was revealed. Now all three are facing counts of second-degree criminal impersonation and could face up to a year in jail. Santanastaso is also going to have a hard time at home as his father is a retired cop, and Abdel Sayed is an auxiliary NYPD officer, so this is going to have serious repercussions for him.

Waiting in line for a few hours to buy the game probably sounds like a great idea right now to all three of them I’d bet.